“Green Energy Money provides the critical missing link to transforming the building industry: properly assigning economic value to efficiency. For the passive building sector, GEM‘s work proves that efficiency more than offsets incrementally higher upfront costs. And that everything else about passive building is value added. Who would not want a passive home that is more comfortable, more durable, is resilient, has healthier indoor air than normal houses-and has almost negligible utility bills and higher market values? After reading this book, the answer is: no one.”
-Katrin Kingenberg, Executive Director, Passive House Institute, U.S.
“The Green Energy Money financial tools and valuation methods add tremendous value to our HERS Index and building performance analytic certifications. We are motivated to support GEM in their development of economic solutions to provide ‘true‘ cost benefits to building owners across the country. Now our energy rating and building science industry finally has a way to provide the financial markets with the ability to quantify their risk and financially reward building owners with incentivized high-performance building loans and appraisals necessary for mass market adoption.”
– Steve Baden, Executive Director, RESNET
“Thanks to Green Energy Money‘s new appraisal methods we were able to quantify and close at a higher value than a conventional property appraisal on our Net-Zero high performance home. Our project, Las Casas Verdes is home to the highest rated, greenest homes in Central Texas. Our latest home‘s HERS Index of 9 is proof of our design strategies and processes. Working with GEM is a great experience—they are transcending the financial industry to finally recognize the TRUE value of green.”
-David E. Martin, Architect, Builder & Developer, D. Martin Homes, LLC
“My wife and I had a main focus of balancing cost with responsible stewardship; reducing our energy consumption and carbon footprint. We understood that the upfront costs, versus a long-term financial plan of dramatically reducing utility and operating costs would provide a better long-term investment. We are excited to be able to live the dream of owning a beautiful, comfortable, low consumption custom Net-Zero home, while achieving our goal of a balanced conscious lifestyle.”
– John D., South Austin Homeowner
“The Green Energy Money program is the key to unlocking an overdue industry transformation. The long term costs of home ownership have been ignored for too long, especially when it comes to one of the single biggest purchases of their lives – and one that so directly affects a family’s health and financial picture. By linking the HERS Index to appraisals the GEM program is bringing the potency of the financial markets to bear on the issue if home performance.”
– Kristof Irwin, Positive Energy
“Green Energy Money is a tremendous asset for our residential construction business. Its analytical decision-making tools and resources help educate our clients about the savings and return on investment for the high-performance, energy-efficient homes we build. Plus, with green appraisals that value the property correctly and with green financing at competitive rates, we’re shouting, At last! This is what we’ve needed: A financing program that perfectly aligns with our business needs.”
– Wayne Jeansonne, President, Solluna Builders, LLC
“Any house can be converted to the Passive House Standard with attention to detail and flexibility from the home owner. My family is enjoying the comfort, improved air quality and sound resistance that the Passive House System has created. And we especially love our consistently low utility costs and lower interest rate and value that GEM provided. We aren‘t ever concerned with the weather affecting our utility costs.”
– Nicholas Koch, Passive House Certified Builder, EGreenGroup
“Green Energy Money’s program will unlock the potential of the residential green energy industry. We have been waiting for the benefits of a solution like this for too long… and the benefits are countless, as you’ll see in the Green Energy Money book. As a CPA, I understand how difficult it can be to assign an accurate value to a specific asset, especially when there are so many unquantifiable variables that need to be considered. I believe GEM‘s methods of providing quantifiable measures for green energy will greatly simplify the process of valuing residential properties at greater precision. I have sincere faith that the Green Energy Money products and methods outlined in this book will make this world a better place.”
–Josh Ray, CPA, CITP, MS, Ray CPA
“I‘ve loved nature all of my life and even wore Eco-Socks to school when I was younger. In 2008, I attended the National Association of REALTORS® Eco-Broker Convention. I left the conference excited but quickly found there were no lenders or programs available to support our green upgrades economically.”
“We were thrilled when we learned about Green Energy Money in 2012. At the time we were working with another mortgage company to refinance our high interest rate. The lender not only offered a higher rate, but could not value our green efficiencies and improve the value of the appraisal.”
“Not only did we receive a lower interest rate through GEM‘s lenders, but the Green Appraisal increased our market value and covered the costs of the upgrades. We are “true” believers in GEM‘s methods and programs. We have to say the process, even though we were one of the first ones, wasn‘t too difficult and wasn‘t too much different than a conventional refinance, except for the HERS Energy Audit, Green Appraisal and final GEM analysis.”
– Betty Saenz, Building Owner & Green Eco-REALTOR®, Austin, Texas
“I have had the pleasure of working with Teresa and she is very knowledgeable. She has expertise in both green construction, appraisal and permanent loan take outs. Teresa has brought us well-qualified borrowers and assisted in any way needed to close the deals in a timely, efficient manner. Communication with Teresa is always open and I definitely recommend her and enjoy working with her.”
– Susan Fouts, Senior Lending Assistant & Appraisal Coordinator, Lone Star Bank